Surface Tension: Definition, Explanation, Examples And Significance

Simply put, surface tension is the tendency of molecules of a liquid to be attracted more towards one another at the surface of a liquid than to the air above it.

Imagine that your favorite bartender is pouring a pint and wants to make sure you have a full glass. When she slides it over to you, it looks as though there is beer coming out of the top. You lower yourself to the level of the pint, and sure enough… there is a tiny bulge of beer that appears to be rising higher than the edge of the glass.

One does not simply walk into a bar and get a perfectly full beer meme

You shake it off, thinking that perhaps this should be your last drink of the night, but actually, you just witnessed surface tension in action. Surface tension is a mysterious and rather fascinating aspect of liquid matter that many people have heard of, but may not fully understand. Let’s take a closer look at this remarkable natural phenomenon, starting at the beginning.

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